Electric Field Distribution in Multilayer Thin-film Polarizers

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Abstract
The distribution of electric-field amplitude inside multilayer thin-film polarizers is evaluated for various polarizer designs. The polarizers, based on (H/2, L, H/2) as the basic stack, show higher field amplitude than those based on all quarter-wave layers. Here H and L represent quarter-wave layers of high- and low-index materials respectively. It has been pointed out that, to avoid damage to the polarizers in high-power laser systems, it is necessary to know the field distribution inside the layers both for radiation incident from the air-multilayer interface as well as the glass-multilayer interface. Some implications of the positioning of thin-film polarizers in Faraday isolators used in high-power laser chains are discussed in relation to the susceptibility of these polarizers to optical damage. The results indicate that the liquid-prism MacNeille polarizer shows a higher damage threshold, which can possibly be further improved by increasing the angle of incidence at the multilayer.